Slow Burning
by Nine1
Summary: "Kai peered over his forearms with clear, dark eyes as he watched the slow destruction of a building he once might have called home." Odd friendships and pyromania galore.


A/N: Written because I wanted to write something other than Digimon. I also figured that horrible warehouse had to be annihilated _somehow_. Oh, and I wanted to burn a building in a fic. So I combined the three, and here is the end result. I could give an OOC warning...though by this time they're a good deal less innocent than they were on the show. Oh well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade, nor do I own the characters. Or the warehouse. I wouldn't want to own the warehouse.

Kai peered over his forearms with clear, dark eyes as he watched the slow destruction of a building he once might have called home. He had asked to not take part in the actual demolishing of it, so he might be able to sit back and watch it fall to the ground, the way it had caused him to fall into his personal layer of his own created hell. He remembered the numerous times he had pulled all-nighters, practicing in the built-in craters he later smoothed out to form perfect battle arenas. He remembered feeling so power-hungry, never satisfied with his skills, constantly berating himself for not being better, faster, stronger, perfect. 

That was years ago. It was years ago that he first met the other members of the Bladebreakers. Before the fight. Before the betrayal. Before he started trusting them. Before he ever called anyone a friend. It was long before Mr. Dickinson ever came up with the stupid agreement. Long before the last Beyblade tournament, and long before Dizarra's "death." Long before, when Kai might have called all of them innocent. 

He stared at the sight before him and dared himself to call any one of them innocent now.

His attention was drawn to the window Tyson was busy trying to break in. He called to Gary, asking for a hammer. Gary searched through the various tools and other objects being used to cause damage to the warehouse where Tyson himself had gone to rescue his friend Kenny from Kai around four years before. Finding the object in question, Gary tossed it to Tyson, and then sat back as he watched Tyson swing the hammer through the window as hard as he could, shattering glass, holding his other arm up to shield his face.

Kai had a vague realization about not having told Mr. Dickinson about this. They had all decided to do this on their own, and had marched over to the warehouse that night carrying all of the possible weapons they would need. Ever since the agreement, the separate groups had been hanging around each other instead of with their old teammates. Kai couldn't remember the last time he had hung out with the other ex-Bladebreakers instead of Oliver or Kevin. The two green-haired boys sat at either side of him, staring at the warehouse. 

Mr. Dickinson had made an agreement with Li and Robert a couple of months ago where groups were formed with one member from the Bladebreakers, the Majestics, and the White Tigers, in which the groups had to hang out together all the time and build strong friendships with each other. It was to promote peace among Beyblade teams. Kai had gotten Kevin and Oliver as his groupmates, and ever since he had been close friends with the two of them, getting to know them as people he wouldn't have guessed them to be before the agreement.

"Why can't we be out there destroying it, Kai?" Kevin asked in his soft, slightly whiny voice.

"I want to watch it burn," Kai replied easily, voice slightly muffled behind the arms on his drawn-up knees that were in front of his mouth. "I want to watch it be destroyed from a distance, so it's like watching a movie."

"I don't want to get ash on my clothes, anyway," Oliver said with a smile. 

Kai was always amused by the fact that Oliver wore a smile in all situations, no matter how happy, sad, or dark. He could be going to his own funeral and smile the whole way through without even having it look fake. That talent came from years of practice. He'd had to learn to keep a smile even when Enrique and Johnny were at each other's throats, fighting and sometimes even becoming physically violent. If he hadn't smiled through all of the fighting, he suspected he would have become a weaker person, more susceptible to becoming overly emotional. He figured it was better to not be emotional at all. This was why he and Kai got along so well and understood each other.

"All of the windows have been broken," Oliver observed. "They should start lighting matches now."

Kai shifted ever so slightly, leaning forward a bit so his chin rested on top of his arms instead of against them. He felt Kevin moving closer to him, the dark-green-haired boy's clothes brushing against his own, but he didn't say anything about it, nor did he move away. He had become used to Kevin's need to be physically close to someone all the time.

He watched as Robert, Kenny, and Li moved away from the house to stand back from the flames that would soon appear. 

Max, Enrique, and Bruce crowded around one window on the side of the warehouse, which was already broken in thanks to Enrique's crowbar, and Max held the match as Bruce and Enrique poured gasoline through the window and spilled it onto the pavement. Bruce and Enrique finished and ran backwards as Max lit the match and flung it through the window. He also began backtracking quickly as the flames automatically created a small explosion from within the house. 

Gary and Tyson were quick to spill the gasoline and light the fire next. They retreated quickly, spinning around to stare in awe at their own contribution to the destruction.

At another window, Rei, Mariah, and Johnny did the same thing. As soon as Mariah threw the match through the window the three ran away from the window, laughing and nearly stumbling over each other in their haste to make it to safety before the window exploded into flame behind them. Johnny and Rei especially were delighted at all of the fire. 

However, none of them loved the sight of the building being devoured by flames anywhere near as much as Kai. Once the job was done, Kai uncurled from his position and rose to his feet, eyes reflecting the light of the fire as he stared down from the hood of the car he'd been sitting on. Oliver and Kevin slowly stood beside him and both of them knew how happy this sight made Kai. They gave each other secretive smiles before turning to look forward at what was raising Kai's spirits so much.

"We go back to Europe tomorrow," Oliver commented. 

"I know," Kai said quietly. "That's why I wanted to do this tonight."

"Well, you got your wish, Kai. Are you happy now?"

Kevin smiled as Kai said exactly what he'd thought he would.

"Very," Kai assured him with a wolfish grin.

The others had begun walking back to the parking lot. They each went to their separate vehicles, chattering excitedly about what they'd just done and how angry Mr. Dickinson would be if he found out they had been the culprits. Kai, Kevin, and Oliver hopped off of the car and quickly got in. Kai got behind the wheel and took one last look back at the burning warehouse.

"Well, I feel lighter now."

"Just drive us back to the hotel," Oliver grinned from the passenger seat.

Kai proceeded to do just that, pulling out of the parking space and driving down the road towards the hotel they were all staying at, leaving the burning building and the painful memories associated with it behind in the ashes. As they pulled away, the warehouse collapsed into itself, leaving nothing but a pile of concrete and destruction lying there, showing no sign of a building ever having stood there before. 

The long process of forgetting had just come to an end.

~ ~ ~ ~  


the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. . .


End file.
